Naas CBS lift South Leinster title

NAAS won the South Leinster Junior ‘A’ football final in Éire Óg, Carlow today but the ten point final margin doesn’t reflect how hard they had to work to take home the trophy.

One of Kilkenny hurling’s all time greats, Pat Henderson, now South Leinster Schools Officer, prepares to present the South Leinster Junior ‘A’ football trophy to Naas CBS captain Alex Beirne

It had been an even opening ten minutes and with Naas points coming from Drew Costello and Sam Morrissey the scores were tied at 0-2 apiece before a huge moment in the game in the 12th minute.

Good Counsel captain and midfielder Donal Porter was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Paddy McDermott as the Naas made his way up the left wing.

Although the Wexford side were aggrieved with the decision the loss of a man brought the best from them and they scored the next three points to lead 0-5 to 0-2 by the 17th minute.

The sending off Naas’ flow but Paddy McDermott scored a fine goal in the 28th minute after a nice give and go involving Morrissey.

Naas then showed what they can do when they things click when they scored a magnificent goal in the 31st minute. It began with a short kick out by goalkeeper David Morrissey to Jamie Osbourne. Osbourne played the ball to Mark Maguire who then picked out a brilliant ball into the forward line. Morrissey was again the man with the final assist and when he knocked the ball down, Costello charged forward and found the net.

AJ Redmond scored the final point of the half to leave Naas 2-2 to 0-6 ahead at the break.

Naas had chances in the first ten minutes after the restart to kill the game off but only had a Michael McGovern point to show for their efforts.

That left Good Counsel still in the game and when Joe O’Sullivan scored in the 41st minute they were only two points behind.

But Naas clicked into gear and between the 45th and 51st minute scored four unanswered points and McGovern made sure of the win with their third goal in the 56th minute.

Overall, it was a performance that hinted at what Naas can do and they will take some beating as they go further into this competition. Next up for the managed by Tom Noone, Padraic Cribbin and Neil Farragher is a Leinster semi-final against the North Leinster champions, Colaiste Mhuire of Mullingar.